Colloquiums: 2006-07

David Palmer has undergraduate degrees in English and Geology. A fan of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, he borrowed copy of Skinner's Walden II and became enamored with the conceptual, philosophical and scientific aspects of Skinner's radical behaviorism. After experimenting with a Walden II style community, he entered graduate school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he studied with Beth Sulzer-Azaroff and John Donahoe. With Donahoe, Palmer coauthored Learning and Complex Behavior, which applies the science of behavior and the physiology of learning to the explanation of complex behavioral issues. He is nationally recognized for his scholarship on conceptual issues involving complex human behavior including verbal behavior and covert behavior.

The Professional Credential in Behavior Analysis: Status, Impact, and Future

Dr. Jerry Shook received his Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis from WMU’s Department of Psychology in 1981. In 1998, Dr. Shook founded the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), a non-profit corporation whose mission is to develop, promote and implement an international certification program for behavior analyst practitioners. Since, 2000, the BACB has established training guidelines and administered professional competency exams, a process that has resulted in the credentialing of over 4000 behavior analysis practitioners in 9 countries. The BACB has also reviewed and approved academic training curricula for behavior analysis practitioners in over 75 universities. His work has greatly enhanced the quality of training and the professional stature of behavior analysis practitioners. His contributions to the discipline have also been recognized by the receipt of a Professional Service Award from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis and by his election as a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis.

Three Rs for Psychology in the Schools: Reading, Resting, & Getting it Right

Also: Meeting for graduate and undergraduate students who might be interested in attending CMU and being involved in the author's grant funded project: March 16, 2-3PM, 2734 Wood Hall

The three segments of this colloquium will demonstrate how helpful data can be in improving services for children. The first R will address the importance of stimulus control in planning instruction in the area of reading. The second R will cover childhood sleep disorders and the importance of sleep for children and adolescents. The Getting it Right section will address children with low-incidence disabilities. An example will be presented showing how data debunked a long-standing myth regarding blind babies. Also, a data-based model will be presented for more accurate diagnosis of autism.